Two of Scott Morrison’s senior female colleagues are criticising him over the “minister for everything” incident, claiming he treated them with “total disdain.”
After it was discovered he surreptitiously swore himself into five ministerial positions, former home affairs minister Karen Andrews demanded he step down as a member of parliament.
After calling the male ex-ministers he had insulted the day before to apologise, Mr. Morrison reportedly contacted her on Thursday to finally apologise for surreptitiously sharing her position.
Senator for the Nationals Bridget McKenzie has also criticised her former employer.
The former prime minister’s covert power grab, according to Senator McKenzie, violated the Coalition agreement and showed “total disdain” for her party.
According to the Liberal-National Coalition agreement, a certain number of ministers must represent each party.
Senator McKenzie said that Mr. Morrison, a Liberal, violated the agreement when, in April 2021, he essentially replaced Nationals MP Keith Pitt as minister of resources.
On Thursday, she said on ABC Radio National, “Our coalition arrangements are a negotiated conclusion and they involve a ratio of cabinet ministries in a coalition administration.”
He violated the coalition agreement by basically taking away one of those ministers’ powers and handing them to a Liberal minister.
The National Party would not have supported the removal of one of its ministers, according to the statement, “It demonstrated full disdain for the second party of government.”
Between March 2020 and May 2021, Mr. Morrison nominated himself covertly to the portfolios of finance, treasury, health, home affairs, and resources.
On Thursday morning, Ms. Andrews said that after covertly swearing himself into her home affairs portfolio, he had not phoned to apologise.
She told Sky News on Thursday, “I understand he has issued a wide apology to his colleagues and I’m happy with that, it’s not a problem.”
Later, it was said that Mr. Morrison called her to apologise.
Josh Frydenberg and Mathias Cormann had already received an apology from Mr. Morrison for the secrecy surrounding his selections for their respective ministries.
After the former prime minister spoke to the media on Wednesday and said that he took over the five positions covertly in the benefit of the country, Ms. Andrews remains unwavering in her demands that he step down.
I guarantee you that I have not altered my beliefs since I made my comments a few days ago, she remarked.
It’s wonderful that (Opposition Leader) Peter Dutton drew a clear boundary for us. If he were elected, it would not take place, as he has made clear.
While Ms. Andrews says she has no issue with contingencies being implemented, she claims she does not see the necessity for confidentiality.
Transparency, she said, is crucial to her.
“Putting in place contingencies is a good idea, but it was necessary to do so as a matter of good governance.”
Governor-General David Hurley has said that he had “no reason to assume” that Mr. Morrison would keep his colleagues in the dark about his new authority.
Mr. Morrison is to blame, not the governor-general, according to Labor front-runner Chris Bowen.
He said to ABC Radio National, “The governor-general was in a tough situation, he needs to follow the advise of the government of the day.”
I won’t criticise or politicise the governor-office. general’s Because the past prime minister is to blame for this mess, I will politicise and criticise his position.
As he did not want to “undermine the trust of ministers in the discharge of their responsibilities,” Mr. Morrison said on Wednesday that he kept the posts’ identities secret.
A gas drilling operation off the coast of New South Wales, he said, was the only time he employed the additional powers.
Keith Pitt, a Nationals MP, was in charge of the resources ministry at the time.
An appeal of Mr. Morrison’s ruling from 2021 is now being heard by the Federal Court.
The solicitor-general has been consulted by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to determine if his predecessor’s actions were subject to the law.
Clare O’Neil, minister of home affairs, said her staff is trying to look for any other choices that Mr. Morrison could have made.